Sparks fly during presidential election debate

Sparks flew during a debate last week about who is the better candidate for president, Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney.

The debate, the third of four in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, took place on Sept. 12 at the Broward County Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Originally organized by the Florida Broward Region of Hadassah, the debate was cancelled by the Jewish women's group in August. The conservative organization United West then agreed to sponsor the debate on the same date.

"This is the debate that was almost banned in Broward when Hadassah pulled out and said, 'too touchy, too controversial,'" Silver quipped.

A moment of silence was observed for Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and other members of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya who were killed last week during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Moderator Kingsley Guy framed the debate titled "America in Crisis." "The political parties are at loggerheads and Congress seems incapable of taking action," Guy said. "The question is just how deep is the crisis and how are we going to get out of it."

"It's not just America that's in crisis," debater Jack Shifrel said. "We live in a world that's in crisis, from the Middle East to Pakistan to Europe, economically and politically and geopolitically and every way that you can possibly imagine."

Shifrel and Rabbi Barry Silver, representing the Democratic side, and Alan Bergstein and Tom Trento, representing the Republican side, clashed repeatedly over their positions on issues that included the leadership abilities of Obama and Romney, Romney's fortune and the omissions of the word "God" and the phrase "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel" from the Democratic Party platform at its recent national convention.

They were in agreement on several points concerning the security of Israel but disagreed over which candidate would best ensure it.

The debaters were interrupted by applause and by jeers from the predominantly conservative audience of about 60 people.

When Trento said there is a "crisis of leadership" and Obama is only posing as a leader, Silver countered, "America needs a leader with vision. [Romney] has got vision. In fact, he's got double vision. He supports bailouts and then he doesn't support bailouts," Silver said.

"He supported health care provided by the government and then he doesn't support it and now he supports part of it," Silver continued.

When the issue of Romney's fortune, estimated at $250 million, came up, Trento of West Palm Beach said, "When a guy makes money and succeeds, it's a curse from the other party's perspective. He has a Swiss bank account. God bless him. I hope everybody has a Swiss bank account."

Silver added some levity to the debate when he sang a parody about Romney to the melody from "Proud Mary." "Romney, working for the rich; Romney, rolling in big money," Silver sang.

Bergstein raised the issue of the omission of the word "God" and the phrase "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel" from the Democratic Party platform during the recent Democratic National Convention. Shifrel, who was a delegate, answered, "It was an oversight. It was a mistake and it was wrong."

Bergstein warned people in the audience that if they vote for Obama, "He will show you exactly who he is, an enemy of Israel."

"It's [the United States and Israel] that stand alone in the west right now," Trento said. "We need leaders who are friends with [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu."

Shifrel responded that President Obama and Netanyahu have met nine times and the two men talked recently for an hour.

"It's extraordinarily important that they had this forum so we had a chance to broaden our awareness of the issues," said Ken Novikoff of Deerfield Beach. "Neither side is perfect but for me there is absolutely no ambiguity. Working people, poor people and American values [are] things progressives have fought for their whole lives."

"I think it was good that we had the debate. I think it's useful and informative," Gail Tenzer of Hollywood said. "I don't deny my bias," she added. "This is a very difficult election. I believe we're right on the brink of World War III and it's not going well for Jews."

The fourth debate will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the Hagen Ranch Library, 14350 Hagen Ranch Road in Delray Beach. Call 561-499-2980 for reservations.